NGOs under European Convention on Human Rights / Tymofeyeva

2.5 Freedom of thought, conscience and religion (Article 9) Article 9 – Freedom of thought, conscience and religion 1. Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief, in worship, teaching, practice and observance. 2. Freedom tomanifest one’s religion or beliefs shall be subject only to such limitations as are prescribed by law and are necessary in a democratic society in the interests of public safety, for the protection of public order, health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others. 2.5.1 The scope of Article 9 Article 9 of the Convention, envisaging that the freedom of thought, conscience and religion is an essential human right, may also be complained of by Article 34 NGOs. 754 However, not every such subject may complain of a breach of this provision. Commercial companies may not in general rely on Article 9 of the Convention. 755 In the case of Kustannus Oy Vapaa Ajattelija Ab, Vapaa-Ajattelijain Liitto – Fritänkarnas Förbund R.Y. and Kimmo Sundström v. Finland 756 the government contested that the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion cannot be invoked by a company functioning on a commercial basis. The Comission responded that, though it is true that a profit-making corporate body can neither enjoy nor rely on the rights referred to in Article 9, an organisation created in order to publish and sell books promoting the aims of the freethinkers, is in principle capable of possessing and exercising rights under Article 9. Consequently, recognition of the rights of Article 34 NGO under this norm will depend on the type of activities exersiced by it. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion must be seen as working to maintain and enhance democratic discussion and the notion of pluralism. The freedom includes two aspects – the individual and the collective. 757 The person may exercise his or her rights, either personally or in community with others. In this study, we will mostly focus on the collective aspect of the freedom set forth in Article 9. Nonetheless, certain points concerning the individual aspect will also be covered in order to describe the distinction between those two ways of applying the right. The religious dimension concerns an ability to create the identity of believers and their conception of life, but it also applies to atheists, agnostics, sceptics and 754 EVANS, M.D. Religious Liberty and International Law in Europe , Cambridge Studies in International and Comparative Law (No. 6). Cambridge University Press, 1997, pages 281 -314. 755 GRABENWARTER, 2014, cited above, p. 236. 756 Kustannus Oy Vapaa Ajattelija Ab,Vapaa-Ajattelijain Liitto – Fritänkarnas Förbund R.Y. and Kimmo Sundström v. Finland (dec.) , no. 20471/92, 15 April 1996. 757 RENUCCI, Jean-François. Article 9 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Freedom of thought, conscience and religion. Human Rights Files , No. 20. Strasbourg: Council of Europe Publishing, 2005, p. 20.

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